Destiny

"Send him to school? No, no. He'll be bullied there." Grandpa shook his head at the Village Chief's family's suggestion.

Huang Ji showed Zheng Xuan a little of his talent with machinery.

To someone with Information Sense, restoring a television or a computer was almost laughably easy.

First was his memory. He could not remember everything at a glance, but forgetting did not matter, because his own information faithfully recorded everything he had experienced.

He could search himself for any image he had ever seen and recover forgotten memories.

As for restoring a computer, he did not even need that ability. Every component contained countless pieces of information. Its purpose and original position were all extremely obvious.

It was just like seeing a coin on the ground and knowing whose it was, when it had fallen, and which pocket it had fallen from...

Any machine could be dismantled and restored.

As long as nothing had been damaged during disassembly and the restoration method was within human capability, it was effortless for Huang Ji.

Thus, while maintaining his image as an intellectually disabled person, Huang Ji added a new trait to it: an extraordinarily keen instinct for mechanical structures!

Even the intellectually disabled could be geniuses.

After learning about his talent, Zheng Xuan chatted with him for quite a while and asked about his circumstances.

Huang Ji took the opportunity to mention that he had given up on the Junior High School Entrance Examination and spent his days idling around and wandering aimlessly at home.

He also casually revealed that he actually wanted to attend school, learn some useful skills, and earn money in the future to take care of Grandpa.

Zheng Xuan did not say much. Later, however, he mentioned the matter to Fan Lingli.

Fan Lingli was warmhearted. When she learned that Huang Ji had this kind of talent, she was also quite surprised.

Feeling that letting him waste his days wandering around was not a solution, she asked whether he wanted to attend school in Magic City. She could find a school and let him give it a try.

Huang Ji naturally had no objection, but his grandfather still had to agree.

After all, that kind of school was far away, and he would have to live at school and study there for five years.

However, when the Fan family brought it up, Grandpa decisively shook his head and refused.

Huang Ji was very disappointed, but he said nothing.

The Village Chief could not bear to watch and said, "Old Fan, going to school is ultimately a good thing. The boy has talent."

Grandpa shook his head. "Ah! What talent does he have? You know his situation."

Zheng Xuan thought, Are you doubting my judgment? He immediately told him everything that had just happened.

Grandpa did not believe him. He knew Huang Ji had never played around at home or randomly taken things apart.

It could be said that Huang Ji had never come into contact with anything related to this. How could he have such talent?

Zheng Xuan said, "Talent is innate. It has nothing to do with whether he has encountered something before. Although Huang Ji... has a slight disability, according to what I know, people in his situation sometimes possess extraordinary talent in certain special areas. You can't say for sure. If you don't believe me, let him give it a try."

This time, he brought out the computer again and scattered its parts across a table.

Then Huang Ji restored the computer easily in front of everyone.

Zheng Xuan had dismantled it into extremely small pieces. Just looking at it made people wonder where to even begin putting it back together.

Yet this did not trouble Huang Ji in the slightest.

After he finished restoring it, the Village Chief clicked his tongue in amazement.

Grandpa did not understand how difficult it was, but he could tell that Huang Ji was extremely focused while restoring the machine. Even his eyes seemed to shine!

That was important. The child was always inattentive.

Usually, when Grandpa saw him so focused, it was only when he was staring blankly beside the fields or watching people talk by the roadside.

Now, he was actually so spirited while doing something useful.

"Good, good, good!" Grandpa was delighted and burst into hearty laughter.

First, he was happy to see such loving light in the child's eyes!

Second, he was comforted that his grandson truly possessed some talent!

"So Xu'er had this skill all along! I don't even dare touch that computer, but Xu'er has quite a talent for it," the Village Chief praised.

Grandpa was pleased. Huang Ji had never had any strengths that others could praise.

For an intellectually disabled person, the only things people could praise were his obedience, docility, and filial piety.

Now, apart from those things, he finally had a skill worthy of praise—even one that could astonish people.

Grandpa was extremely happy about it.

But afterward, he frowned and said, "The child even gave up on the Junior High School Entrance Examination. Can he attend a technical school?"

Zheng Xuan said, "I know a Junior College. He can enroll in a '3+2' program. After junior high, he can study there for five years. He'll take 'high school' courses for the first two years and learn professional skills for the last three. After graduating, he'll receive a junior college diploma."

"He doesn't need a junior high graduation certificate, and they don't look at his entrance examination results."

There was no doubt that this was not exactly a good school. Of course, it was not so bad either. It had all the required documents and qualifications.

When Grandpa heard that Huang Ji would receive a junior college diploma after graduating, he was both surprised and pleased.

But then he asked, "With his condition... will he be able to obtain the diploma?"

Who could guarantee that? No one spoke for a moment.

They were merely trying to persuade him because they felt Huang Ji's situation was a shame. They were not insisting that he attend school.

In fact, since Fan Lingli was from the same hometown, if she made such a suggestion, she would naturally have to look after Huang Ji in Magic City.

She had already offered to take on this "trouble" herself. She had done enough.

Seeing this, Huang Ji said, "Grandpa, I'll work hard."

Grandpa sighed. "That's not the issue... Ah, I know you work hard. Old Fan, this child is very sensible at home. He cooks and washes clothes, and he can even farm. It may look like I'm taking care of him, but he takes care of me too. Xu'er really isn't stupid."

"Do you think I don't know that?" The Village Chief rolled his eyes. He knew Huang Ji had no problem with daily life.

"Look, enroll him in mechanical repair. If he learns something, he can find a decent job after graduating. Even if he doesn't graduate, repairing appliances and the like would still be a good way to make a living."

Grandpa nodded. "I know. But I just can't feel at ease. Magic City is a major city. Can he adapt there? He's never even left the county!"

"Even with a dormitory and cafeteria, he'll still need time to adapt. If other people see that he doesn't understand anything, won't they bully him?"

Ultimately, Grandpa had raised Huang Ji his entire life. He was not at ease with letting him travel far away and live alone in another place, nor could he bear to part with him.

There was nothing more they could say. At this point, Grandpa was clearly worried, and they were only fellow villagers. Why force the issue?

Everyone immediately stopped mentioning the matter.

Seeing that the matter of school was about to come to nothing, Huang Ji spoke.

He said only one sentence, but it settled everything!

"Grandpa, if you say we shouldn't go, then I won't go. I'll stay by your side forever, take care of you, and never go anywhere..."

Those words struck Grandpa right in the heart, while also making him shudder.

Forever... by my side?

Grandpa let out a long sigh and thought, How can that be?

He had raised Huang Ji his entire life, but what prospects had he given him? None.

If the child stayed by his side, he would merely remain alive. There would be nothing to hope for in the future.

Grandpa could not teach Huang Ji anything. Though farming and the savings he left behind would probably allow the child to survive after his death, Huang Ji would likely spend his entire life alone and miserable.

Deep down, Grandpa had always felt guilty toward Huang Ji, always believing that it was his fault.

He had kept Huang Ji by his side for more than a decade, unable to let go and unwilling to let him travel far away.

But when he heard Huang Ji say that he wanted to accompany him for the rest of his life, Grandpa became agitated. "You can't! How could you possibly stay with me forever?"

Huang Ji was only sixteen, while Grandpa himself was already old.

Now that they had finally discovered Huang Ji's talent and found a way for him to make a decent living in the future, could Grandpa still refuse to let him go?

"You need to go out into the world. You have talent! You need to learn some useful skills, understand?" When Grandpa imagined that he had raised the child into someone who merely echoed others, and that the child had been called an idiot because of him and learned nothing, he could not stop himself from crying.

At the same time, Huang Ji began to cry as well.

He was no longer intellectually disabled, but he could not tell Grandpa that.

With those words, he had seen through Grandpa's psychological weakness. He knew Grandpa was always burdened by guilt. He knew that if he said he would stay with him forever, Grandpa would worry about his future and about what Huang Ji would do after he died.

That had always been Grandpa's greatest concern.

Thus, a single sentence from Huang Ji had changed Grandpa's mind. He understood people's hearts and knew everyone's weaknesses.

Seeing how miserable Grandpa had become because of his words, he could not help but suffer as well.

He felt guilty for exploiting Grandpa's psychological weakness... but he had no choice.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I'm sorry. I have to go out into the world. There are too many things I want to do..."

Huang Ji hugged Grandpa and apologized silently.

He had used those words to hurt Grandpa, but not for the sake of all humanity, nor because he needed to learn and grow quickly to solve Earth's crisis.

Those things were actually secondary in his heart.

He was still young. After all these years, Earth was still fine, wasn't it? Humanity was still living happily, wasn't it? The matter of extraterrestrials was not truly urgent. Even if it was urgent, there was nothing he could do about it.

Even if Huang Ji had to hurt Grandpa, he had to leave for one fundamental reason: Grandpa's health.

He needed to study medicine and find a way to cure Grandpa's illness. That could not be delayed.

Grandpa seemed fairly hale and hearty, but he would certainly die within five years.

This was something he had clearly sensed through information.

Everyone's life had an end. Everyone had a fixed lifespan.

For most children and young people, the upper limit of their lifespan was between one hundred and one hundred thirty years!

Yes! That was almost the human lifespan limit.

Yet as they grew older, their overall lifespans actually continued to shrink! For ordinary eighteen- or nineteen-year-olds, their lifespans would fall to around one hundred years.

He had also observed many people in their twenties. Their lifespans were often only eighty or ninety years, and some would even die in their sixties or seventies.

The information regarding a person's lifespan limit was constantly changing!

In other words, destiny had never been predetermined! It was not unchanging!

A person who could originally live to be one hundred twenty might have his lifespan immediately shortened because he failed to maintain a proper schedule or ate irregularly!

A person who could originally live to eighty might suffer a serious illness and indulge excessively in lust during the illness. Even if he recovered, his lifespan might be reduced by twenty years, falling from eighty to sixty.

It was just that hardly anyone knew about such changes.

When that person reached his fifties or sixties, developed other illnesses, and died, he would probably believe that he had simply been short-lived.

Little would he know that the serious illness he had suffered in his youth had damaged his body and already doomed him to die before sixty!

Every habit, every change in circumstances, and even every shift in mentality could cause the information regarding a person's lifespan limit to change.

Thus, Huang Ji could observe, summarize, and experiment to determine which behaviors promoted health and which shortened one's life.

Grandpa's condition was essentially caused by an illness. The illness could not be cured, but if it could be treated, then without a doubt, Grandpa would not die within five years. His lifespan might even be extended greatly!

Destiny was not predetermined by Heaven. It was decided by the entanglement of countless causes and effects.

And it was constantly changing and being updated!

In theory, if one could see through enough causal entanglements and possessed enough information, one could predict the future.